Letters editor

So the wraps are finally off the new Lifeboat Shed. What an eyesore it is.

This vast, replacement RNLI building has cost millions of pounds of the general public’s donations, and it is totally unnecessary.

The lifeboat has never been more efficient than where it is berthed at present, afloat on a pontoon and pointing into the harbour entrance.

This is the location the coxswain and I attempted to promote to the RNLI inspector for the new lifeboat some years ago when I was operations manager (for more than 16 years).

The site is not only more accessible to the sea, saving vital time, if this berth had been made permanent it would also have saved the huge rebuilding costs and the expense of the tractor/trailer and its ongoing maintenance.

I accept that there is a need for a shore base for crew training, operations room and retail outlet but the Lancaster Inn, converted and refurbished would have served all these needs for a fraction of the cost of the new building.

The coxswain and I spent a considerable amount of time and effort formulating the afloat boat proposal, but the RNLI representative didn’t want to know. I guess it’s not important when there’s a bottomless pit of money.